New to chickens! A few coop questions!

[greenxbean]

We are new to owning chickens, and are very very excited to take on this adventure! I found a man in our area who builds walk in chicken coops for a very decent price. We are going to pick ours up this week. The run area is enclosed with chicken wire instead of hardware cloth. If the chickens are closed up in the coop at night is it necessary to switch the chicken wire to hardware cloth? We live in the city and have a six foot privacy fence so there's not chance of stray dogs in where the chickens would be during the day. Opinions?

I have a few more questions! The area where we were hoping to place the coop is completely shaded by a big oak tree, it very rarely gets any direct sun. Is this okay? We like in central Florida so no super cold weather to worry about.

Is it necessary to have a light in the coop? I see people on the forum talking about turning it on at dusk to help the chickens find the coop. If a light is necessary, when do you turn it off?

Thanks in advance for any advice! This forum has already been so helpful is making the jump into the chicken keeping world

 

[AlabamaSweetpea]

I'd use hardware cloth in place of chicken wire - not only will the chickens be more secure, it will give you peace of mine. I was placing my coop under the shade of a live oak, but after the underbrush was removed, there wasn't any limbs on my side of the tree! I also live in the suburbs, but at night when I take my dog out I see possums and raccoons running around in my yard, so I know they are there.